Guy drives an hour to challenge boxing coach, receives vital life lesson

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The idea that ties it all together is understanding what really works in martial arts by analyzing what happens on the street, or in this case in the gym, rather than what happens in the cage or ring.

No one walks into a fire station believing they have a natural ability to fight fires. No uneducated fool walks into a math professor’s office and challenges the teacher to do differential equations. Unfortunately, the same thing is not true in combat sports. There is some small part of way too many guys who watch professional MMA or boxing and figure they can probably do just fine, maybe even better than the coach.

That’s what happened to Dorian Beaupierre in the video below. He went 50-8 as an amateur, was ranked the #2 boxer in the nation, and in 2000 was inducted into the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame. That same year he turned pro, and went 12-6-2 before retiring in 2006. In 2012 he opened Elite Boxing Fitness Center in Oviedo, Florida.

One day a guy drove an hour to his gym, just to fight with him. The guy said he had been In and out of prison, had anger issues, had been in many street fights, had been in many fights in lock up, and was looking for somewhere to train. However, first, he wanted to get in the ring with the coach.

The coach was fresh out of hip surgery and was on crutches, but when he explained that to the intruder, the guy called him a kitty cat and accused him of backing out. Coach Beaupierre realized the man was a bully, and needed his attitude adjusted.

What follows is a clinic, delivered by a master of his craft, a true sweet scientist.

What Happened

The coach is limping, and sets the scene – a man has traveled an hour to challenge him, and confirms it. The challenger, perhaps sensing he is out of his depth, attempts to engage the coach in small talk.

“You have never had this happen before, brother?” he asks.

“Not I have not,” is the reply. And so it begins.

The challenger has nothing, literally. He has zero footwork. He does not jab. With his chin high and lead arm reaching out, he plods forward, attempting arm punches with his right. If this was swimming, he can’t swim.

The coach moves around, downloading everything about the challenger. In short time, he touches him to the body, and then the head. The challenger falls to ground as if shot.

“Are you all right?” the coach asks. “Are you sure you want to continue? You stepped into the wrong gym. You can’t walk into the gym and ask to spar somebody … come on, let’s work. Your attitude is going to get you hurt in a boxing gym. Come on, let’s work. Let’s f***ing work.”

A left lands to the temple, with precision and the challenger falls down a second time, only to rise quickly.

“Your attitude is going to get you hurt in a boxing gym,” the coach explains again, again dropping the challenger with a straight.

“You can’t come into a boxing gym and challenge a coach,” he explains. “That’s not what a boxing gym is about. All the s*** you do outside on the street, you do on the street. You have to be humble when you walk in a boxing gym. Come on, get up; I’m going to give you a chance to throw punches at me. Throw punches at me, I’m not hitting you.”

The challenger wades in, the very definition of ineptitude.

“Hands up, I’m going to hit you now. HANDS UP!”

Then a left hook to the body is thrown, without malice, but with intention. The challenger makes a sound like a buffalo having sex. More punches. More lessons, Another body shot. Now there’s a sound like a herd of buffalo getting busy.

Then one more body shot. And the round timer sounds.

In one round, three minutes, 180 seconds, the challenger has received a lifetime of lessons. The most immediate one is perhaps the simplest, when you enter a combat sports gym, be humble.

VIDEO LINK